Study the Bible with Me | Kim Howard
James’ Fourth Letter to the Church
Submit Yourself to God
James 4:1, “1From whence come wars and fighting among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in you members?”
Personal Translation: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Do they not come from your desires that battle within you?
James is addressing conflict within the church—arguments, divisions, quarrels, and hostility. These are not just political or physical wars, but relational strife, tension, and discord among people.
James is asking a heart-searching question: What is the real source of these conflicts?
James answers his own question. Conflict does not begin on the outside—it begins within the human heart. The word translated as “lusts” or “desires” refers to selfish cravings—wanting control, recognition, pleasure, comfort, or things our own way. These desires “war” within us, creating inner turmoil that spills over into outward conflict.
James 4:2-3, “2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
Personal Translation: You desire but do not have, so you murder. You covet but cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you can live in your own pleasures.
A craving for pleasure and an insatiable desire to gratify one’s own lust is what causes greed to become such a serious issue in our lives. James spends considerable time identifying its deadly root and addressing its much-needed cure. He points out that the sin of covetousness is so powerful that he links its outcome with murder—an act rooted in anger, envy, bitterness, malice, cruelty, inhumanity, and greed.
When the covetous self is determined to have its own way, it often results in hidden manipulation and sinful actions. This selfish drive can even lead a person to stop praying altogether, or to pray with wrong motives. And when they do pray, their prayers are self-centered. They are not seeking God’s will, wisdom, or glory, but are instead asking God to satisfy their own personal desires.
James teaches that God does not answer prayers driven by selfish ambition or sinful desires. God is not a tool to fulfill fleshly wants. Prayer is meant to align our hearts with God’s will—not to bend God to our own desires.
James 4:4, “4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity of God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Personal Translation: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity of God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
James is speaking spiritually, not primarily about physical adultery. He is describing spiritual unfaithfulness. Just as adultery breaks a marriage covenant, loving the world breaks loyalty to God. God’s people are called to belong wholly to Him. When they turn their affections elsewhere, it is an act of covenant unfaithfulness.
Enmity means hostility or active opposition. To cling to the world is to choose enmity with God. The “world” James refers to is not creation or people, but a value system opposed to God—one driven by pride, selfish ambition, pleasure-seeking, power, and independence from Him. James teaches that you cannot maintain close friendship with a godless system and still be aligned with God. The two move in opposite directions.
When we live according to the world’s way, we do whatever it takes to get what we desire. The world teaches us to fight—sometimes aggressively—to satisfy our wants and to place personal happiness above all else. When we live and act as the world does, we show that we are friends with the world.
In contrast, when we follow God’s wisdom, we trust Him to provide what we truly need. Because we trust His love, goodness, and power, we do not exploit or mistreat others to get what we want. Instead, we obey God, serve one another, and seek to meet each other’s needs. This is what it means to be a friend of God.
To deliberately embrace the world’s values, priorities, and desires is to place oneself in opposition to God. Neutrality is not an option. Loyalty must be decided.
James 4:5, “5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?”
Personal Translation: Do you think Scripture speaks without reason when it says that the spirit that dwells in us yearns jealously?
James may be asking the question, “Do you think Scripture speaks without purpose when it says that the human spirit dwelling within us is inclined toward envy?”
James is referring to the fallen human nature—the natural tendencies of the human heart. Our human spirit has strong desires, and without an active, Spirit-filled life, those desires easily turn toward selfish ambition and envy.
Throughout this section, James has been teaching Christians to follow wisdom from above, not wisdom from below (the world). He has already explained that the source of their conflicts, greed, and fighting comes from relying on worldly wisdom rather than trusting God. Their hearts were coveting, they were in conflict with one another, spiritually opposing God, and praying with selfish motives.
James reminds them that this struggle with envy is not new. Scripture has consistently revealed this pattern. In the Old Testament, God’s people repeatedly lusted after evil desires, and Scripture also records the consequences of those actions. Paul refers to this same truth in (1 Corinthians 10:1-11), where he explains that these events were written as examples for us.
Additionally, (Romans 15:4) teaches that what was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that we might learn from past failures and not repeat them.
James’s question, then, carries weight: “Do you think the Scriptures serve no purpose?” He is emphasizing that Scripture clearly reveals the human tendency toward envy and self-centered desire—and it also provides the wisdom and correction needed to overcome it.
James 4:6, “6But He giveth more grace, Wherefore He saith, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
Personal Translation: But God gives even more grace. That is why Scripture says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’
After exposing pride, envy, and friendship with the world, James now points to grace. He reminds us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 29:23, Proverbs 3:34; Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 23:12)
Even though the human heart is prone to envy, selfish desire, and unfaithfulness, God supplies more grace—grace that is sufficient to overcome pride, sin, worldly thinking, and spiritual adultery.
God resists the proud—those who rely on themselves, justify their sin, or refuse correction—but He freely gives grace to those who humble themselves and repent. When a person recognizes their unfaithfulness and turns back to God, grace makes restoration possible.
That is what God’s grace does. It meets us where we are, corrects us, restores us, and brings us back into a relationship with God (John 1:16-17).
James 4:7-10, “7Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”
Personal Translation: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into sorrow. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James begins with a call to submission. Victory over sin and temptation does not start with resisting the devil—it starts with submitting to God. When a person places themselves under God’s authority, the devil loses his foothold. It means resisting, standing firm in obedience to God. When we do that, Scripture promises that the devil will flee.
When we draw near to God in repentance, prayer, and obedience, He responds by drawing near to us.
James calls for:
- Clean hands — outward repentance (turning from sinful actions)
- Pure hearts — inward repentance (turning from divided loyalties)
“Double-minded” refers to those who try to live with one foot in the world and one foot with God.
James is calling for godly sorrow over sin (Psalm 51:17; Matthew 5:4). When sin is taken lightly, repentance is shallow. True repentance involves recognizing the seriousness of sin and allowing it to humble us. This grief is not hopeless despair—it is the sorrow that leads to repentance and restoration (Psalm 119:71).
When a person humbles themselves before God—acknowledging sin, turning away from pride, and submitting to Him—God Himself lifts them up. Exaltation comes from God, not self-effort.
God responds to repentance with grace and exaltation
Judging One Another
James 4:11-12, “11Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
Personal Translation: Do not speak evil of one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who speaks evil of his brother or sister, or judges them, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. And if you judge the law, you are not obeying the law, but setting yourself up as a judge. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge—the One who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge your neighbor?”
James is addressing the Church and warning them against speaking evil of one another. When we speak evil—through slander, gossip, harsh criticism, or condemning speech—about a brother or sister, we are effectively judging them. As Christians, we must resist the temptation to criticize and find fault with members of our church family. They already have a Judge, and it is not us.
James teaches that when someone judges a brother or sister, they are also speaking against and judging the law. The law James refers to here is the royal law (James 2:8), which is rooted in love. God commands us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” When we judge others, we place ourselves above that law, refusing to live by it. In doing so, we are no longer doers of the law, but judges of it.
James reminds us that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge—God Himself. Since the One who gave the law is also the One who judges according to it, we have no authority to condemn one another. Therefore, there is never any justification for evil or condemning speech directed toward a sister or brother in Christ.
Plans for Tomorrow
James 4:13-16, “13Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.”
Personal Translation: Now listen, you that say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
James is addressing believers who are making plans for their lives with confidence, but without dependence on God. The issue he exposes is boastful speech rooted in arrogance.
James describes a person who confidently plans to go to a certain city, stay for a set amount of time, conduct business, and make a profit. At first glance, nothing about this seems wrong—until we notice who is missing from the plans: God.
Neglecting to entrust our plans, hopes, and outcomes to God leads to arrogance and unbelief. The person James describes intends to live life on their own terms, by their own strength, and according to their own will. This attitude reflects self-sufficiency rather than faith, and James calls such boasting evil.
James reminds us how fragile life is. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Our life is compared to a vapor—it appears for a moment and then vanishes. Only God knows the number of our days, and only He controls the future.
If Jesus truly is Lord of our lives, we will recognize that everything comes from His hand. Our speech will reflect humility and dependence on Him. Instead of boasting, we should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
James is not condemning planning—he is condemning self-sufficient planning that ignores God.
James 4:17, “17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
Personal Translation: So therefore, for the person who knows to do good but does not do it, to him that is a sin.
James closes this section with a sobering principle of responsibility.
This verse teaches that sin is not only the act of doing what is wrong, but also the failure to do what is right when we know better. Knowledge brings accountability. Once God has made His will clear—through Scripture, conscience, or conviction—we are responsible to act on it.
Simply put, every person is called to do what is right. In this context, the right thing is the will of God, lived out in dependence on Him. The only way to know what is truly right—what God commands—is through Scripture. Therefore, we must be continually in the Word of God, not merely to study and gain knowledge, but to apply it to daily living (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
James reminds us that faith is lived out not only by avoiding evil, but also by actively doing good when God calls us to it. To know what is right and refuse to do it is itself sin.
James reminds us that faith is lived out not only by avoiding evil, but by actively doing good when God calls us to it.
Summary
In this chapter James confronts the root causes of conflict, pride, and spiritual unfaithfulness among Christians. He teaches that wars, quarrels, and strife come from selfish desires and cravings within the human heart. These unchecked desires lead to envy, conflict, wrong motives in prayer, and friendship with the world.
James warns that loving the world’s value system—marked by pride, self-promotion, and self-reliance—puts a person in opposition to God. Spiritual friendship with the world is spiritual adultery against God.
However, James emphasizes that God gives more grace. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, we are called to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, draw near to Him, repent sincerely, and humble ourselves before the Lord, trusting that He will lift us up.
James also warns against speaking evil of our church family and judging one another, reminding readers that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge—God Himself.
Finally, James addresses arrogant, self-sufficient planning. He rebukes those who make confident plans without acknowledging God’s will, reminding us that life is brief and uncertain. True faith recognizes dependence on God in all plans and outcomes.
James closes the chapter with a sobering reminder: sin is not only doing wrong, but failing to do what is right when we know better. Faith is demonstrated through humble dependence on God and obedient action.
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